Hoops Junkie

I am by admission a men’s college basketball junkie. It has always been my favorite sport to watch, follow and cover.

It used to be, I would get in trouble the week of Thanksgiving because back in the day when the Maui Tournament and the Great Alaska Shootout were the only two big preseason tournaments, I would watch all of the games until like two or three in the morning. Growing up I was (gasp!) the biggest OU Basketball fan. I know an OSU fan can’t be an OU fan, but I loved Billy Tubbs’ run and gun style. Believe me I came around to the right way of thinking.

I even got “punished” by the school one year when I was in junior high, because they refinished the floor every Christmas and it is about a week process. I tried to get on the court a day early and it was not totally dry. They had to put on another coat of finish. My punishment was to pick up the commodities for the school cafeteria from the county.

I have always been enthralled by the 3-point line. You wouldn’t know it by watching me shoot now, because I am somewhat out of practice, but I used to shoot more baskets than maybe anyone. I lived in the basketball gym. My parents never had to worry about me or where I was for the most part, because if you wanted to find me I was at the gym. Often times it would be after midnight when I would come home. I even had my own key, because the coaches got tired of me bugging them for it. I could shoot baskets for hours by myself.

I have watched many great players and games in person. I had the privilege of sitting court side at Gallagher-Iba, the No. 1 basketball venue in the country, for every home game for four years. The games were fun, but the biggest thrill of my basketball fandom is watching Eddie Sutton’s practices. I would sneak away from my cubicle in the Sports Information office to watch practice as often as possible.

I have never seen anyone mold a team like he did. They way he would tear them down and build them back up in the course of a practice. I have always loved practice more than the games. About every day at 3 o’clock you can find me in the gym during practice for at least part of it. I love being around the gym, being around the guys and just being around the game. I will even still play a few games of horse every now and then (Casey I will get you before the end of the year).

It takes a lot to impress me on the basketball court. Two games stick out in my memory. Brent Price hit for 56 points in a game for OU back in the early 1990’s. He hit 11 3-pointers and Randy Rutherford of OSU put up 45 points on Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse in 1995. I think he had 10 3-pointers.

All of that leads me to what I saw on Monday night and it goes toward the top of the list of the most impressive things I have seen on the basketball court. In the first 11 minutes of the game against Mississippi College the Choctaws, who had made 21 3-pointers in six games this season, made 9-of-10 from downtown. Three of them were banked in and the rest were nothing but net. They came from five different players.

Needless to say, HSU never recovered as MC hit 11-of-13 treys in the first half.

That said, I think it could be a good year for the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Both had many questions coming into the season, but I think the questions have been answered and I expect both to make deep runs in the postseason.

Both teams have had some big losses, but they have also shown some of the signs of good teams. Winning on the road, overcoming deficits and getting better as the season goes on.